On Strategy and the Likelihood of Success in Marital Matchmaking Under Uncertainty

13 Pages Posted: 7 Sep 2004

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 2004

Abstract

In contemporary times, in both the East and in the West, individuals wishing to get married have made increasing use of matchmakers. This notwithstanding, economists have paid scant attention to the strategies employed by matchmakers and to the likelihood of success arising from the use of these strategies. Consequently, this paper has two objectives. First, we specify a local and then a global strategy for matching male and female clients and then we compute the expected total cost to a matchmaker from the use of these strategies. Next, we calculate the mean number of successes that our matchmaker can hope for. Finally, we provide an upper bound on the probability that the number of matching successes is at least 1+theta times the mean number, where theta is any positive number.

Keywords: Matchmaking, Marriage, Strategy, Success, Uncertainty

JEL Classification: J12, J41, D81

Suggested Citation

Batabyal, Amitrajeet A., On Strategy and the Likelihood of Success in Marital Matchmaking Under Uncertainty (August 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=586484 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.586484

Amitrajeet A. Batabyal (Contact Author)

Rochester Institute of Technology ( email )

Department of Economics, RIT
92 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, NY NEW YORK 14623-5604
United States
5853134063 (Phone)
5854755777 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://people.rit.edu/aabgsh

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